


Counting Kisses

by youreyeslookliketheocean



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Closet kissing scene oop, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:41:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23656285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youreyeslookliketheocean/pseuds/youreyeslookliketheocean
Summary: The first time she kissed Chat Noir and both of them remembered it, it was an accident. The akuma that the two were battling had hurled them both towards a brick wall. Chat had used his body as a shield, taking the brunt of the impact, while Ladybug had practically sandwiched him against the wall. Their lips brushed unintentionally.The second time Marinette kissed Chat Noir, it was a drowsy peck on the cheek while leaving patrol.The third time she kissed him, she’d been saving his life.Then there was the fourth...
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 5
Kudos: 206





	Counting Kisses

The first time she kissed Chat Noir and both of them remembered it, it was an accident. The akuma that the two were battling had hurled them both towards a brick wall. Chat had used his body as a shield, taking the brunt of the impact, while Ladybug had practically sandwiched him against the wall. Their lips brushed unintentionally.

Ladybug had never jumped back that fast in her life. Chat Noir’s face burned exactly the same color as her suit.

They didn’t talk about it, and Chat never teased her about it either. Maybe he’d felt just as embarrassed as she had.

The second time Marinette kissed Chat Noir, it was a drowsy peck on the cheek while leaving patrol.

“Good night, _Mon Chaton_ ,” she’d yawned right before pressing her lips to his cheek.

Chat Noir tensed in surprise, but Ladybug was too tired to realize that she’d said goodnight to him like she said goodnight to her parents.

The third time she kissed him, she’d been saving his life.

Neither of them talked about that time. Chat only remembered it because as soon as he woke up, her lips were on his and her arms were squeezing him to her chest in relief.

Then there was the fourth.

That day, Marinette had been late to school. Not because of any kisses, though. She had simply been to stubborn to get out of bed when her alarm requested it.

She flew into the classroom at whirlwind speed, sending the door careening towards the wall before Ms. Bustier caught it.

“ _Sorry!_ Sorry!” Marinette apologized, ducking her head and hurrying to find her seat. “My alarm— and my parents— and then I dropped— sorry.”

Ms. Bustier laughed and shook her head. “It’s alright, Marinette. We haven’t started the lesson yet. We were just having a discussion on the superheroes of Paris. Join us whenever you’re ready.”

Marinette nodded gratefully and sat down at her desk. She began pulling things out of her backpack as the class continued their discussion.

“Well I think Queen Bee is obviously the best,” Chloe voiced from the other side of the room. Marinette looked up to see her flip her ponytail dramatically. 

“What are you talking about?” Alya laughed beside Marinette. “Ladybug’s the best superhero.”

Marinette furrowed her brow. Were they seriously debating who the best superhero was? Half of her classmates _were_ superheroes! She’d given them their miraculous herself! Not that she could tell them that.

At least Alya wasn’t biased towards herself.

“Roi Singe was pretty neat,” Kim observed from across the room, “and Pegasae. Don’t you think?”

“What about Carapace and Rena Rouge? They’re so cute together, don’t you think?” Rose said from the back.

“Well I like Ladybug,” Nathaniel spoke up, his cheeks flaming redder than his hair.

“Viperion’s pretty cool I guess...” Juleka muttered.

“Well I think-”

“I think-”

Marinette glanced up to look around her class. Was no one going to mention Chat Noir? Had they forgotten about the other half of her little team?

“What do you think, Adrien?”

It took Marinette a moment to realize that it was Nino who’d asked the question. She turned around to look at Adrien’s face. He’d been unnaturally quiet this whole time; she couldn’t believe it had taken her this long to notice. 

Adrien shrugged, fiddling with the strap of his bag underneath his desk. “Well I think Ladybug’s the obvious answer. She always saves the day.”

The rest of the class gave respective nods. Marinette’s face bloomed pink, but she couldn’t resist asking, “What about Chat Noir? He’s always with her, isn’t he?”

At this, Adrien lifted his face to look at her. Marinette immediately flushed from the eye contact. His eyes were bright green and curious, boring into hers as if he could see straight through her. That was one of the things she liked about him. Those eyes were the ones she’d fallen in love with that day in the rain.

“Sure, I like Chat Noir,” he said, “he’s just not as important as Ladybug. I mean, she’s the one who purifies the akuma. Without her, Paris would never be safe.”

“But without Chat Noir, Ladybug would never succeed.”

“That’s not true.”

Marinette’s eyebrows shot up. “Of course it is!”

Adrien leaned forwards across his desk. “What about Style Queen?”

“She still had Chat Noir. Kind of. She had-”

“Class! Let’s not get carried away, now. Of course all the heroes are equally important to Paris. Marinette, Adrien, please sit down and face the right way,” Ms. Bustier interrupted.

Marinette abruptly shut her mouth. It was a good thing Ms. Bustier had interrupted her. She’d been about to say that Ladybug had been with Chat Noir’s kwami.

Still, she was surprised that Adrien felt the way he did about Ladybug and Chat Noir’s partnership. Didn’t he realize that they were both equally important? When he’d fought with Ladybug against Desperada that one time, Chat Noir hadn’t been there. Was that why he felt this way? But that’s why they’d failed in the first place. Because they’d been missing a vital part of her team.

Marinette shook her head, and forced herself to focus on her schoolwork.

Why did it even matter?

* * *

After class, Marinette was following Alya out the door when a hand suddenly grabbed her arm. She spun around, and all her breath left her in one, high pitched wheeze as she realized it was Adrien’s hand holding her arm.

He pulled his hand back as if he’d burned her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. But um... can we talk?”

Marinette fought the urge to word vomit, simply blushing and nodding her head. She followed Adrien out the door, carefully ignoring the thumbs up that Alya was shooting her. She kept her eyes on Adrien’s hair, following him down the hall to the locker area. They stopped in front of a big blue door, but didn’t walk inside it.

“Do you really believe what you said in class? About Ladybug and Chat Noir?” Adrien asked her. He turned around so that they were face to face.

Marinette felt the pink in her cheeks return full force, but nodded her head nonetheless. “Yes. Of course I do. They’re a team, aren’t they?”

Adrien took a moment to respond. “Yeah. But Ladybug doesn’t _always_ need Chat Noir. That’s all that I meant in class. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“But she _does_ always need him. You haven’t noticed?”

“Noticed what? Noticed that whenever he gets taken out of a fight, it’s Ladybug who has to bring him back in the end? All on her own? Noticed that there have been multiple akuma’s Chat Noir has been late for, or just plain hasn’t shown up?”

Adrien was still talking quietly, but there was something unsettling about his expression. He looked hurt, and oddly guilty.

Marinette frowned. “No. Have you noticed that whenever Chat Noir’s not there, it takes Ladybug twice as long to wrap up what should be an easy fight? Or that whenever he’s not there, she has to go request backup miraculous holders because she can’t do it herself? She hates it when he sacrifices himself, and does whatever she can to bring him back because she needs him.”

Adrien’s expression was growing more pained by the second. Why was he looking at her like that? Did he know Chat Noir personally? He definitely didn’t know Ladybug. Well, he did, but not exactly on a personal level. Unless he knew who she was...

“How do you know that?” He asked.

Suddenly, the bell for the next class rang.

Adrien opened the door behind them, hurrying both himself and Marinette into the closet and shutting the door behind them. Both of them knew the reason why. If they were caught in the hall during classroom hours, that meant detention. Marinette knew she couldn’t afford that, since her parents were already freaked out enough by her sometimes random absences from school. All due to Ladybug, of course, but it wasn’t like she could tell them that.

“How do you know all of that?” Adrien asked again, this time quieter.

The closet was dark, and Marinette could barely see his face from where she was standing. “I...I’m friends with Ladybug, remember?” 

“But she would never tell a civilian about having to request backup miraculous. That’s too dangerous to know. _I_ didn’t even know how she got them, and I-”

Adrien abruptly clamped his mouth shut. Now that Marinette’s eyes were getting used to the dark, she could see his panicked expression. He’d said something wrong. He’d said...he...

Marinette’s thoughts came to a screeching halt.

“You what?” She asked, her heart beginning to race inside her chest.

Adrien’s mouth had begun to gape, and he quickly closed it again to speak. “You’re not friends with Ladybug, are you.”

“Of course I am! How else would I know all this? And you! You’re-”

Adrien’s hand flew to cover her mouth. “You can’t know that. Unless...”

Marinette stared up at him with wide eyes. He was staring down at her, looking equally as dumbstruck. Whenever he decided that she wasn’t going to start screaming again, his hand slowly slid away from her mouth and up to her eyes. He covered half of her face with one hand, then brought his other hand up to finish the mask he was making. Marinette’s feet felt like they were glued to the floor, and her body refused to move, so she had no choice but to let him.

Adrien’s eyes grew impossibly wide, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he moved his hands to brush her bangs back behind her ears. His eyes flickered to where Marinette knew her earrings hung. They probably looked dull and boring in the closet, but there was no way to convince herself that he didn’t know now. He knew. He knew who she was.

Looking down at Adrien’s ring as he finally pulled away, Marinette thought that she knew, too.

“M’Lady?” It was whispered so quietly, Marinette barely heard it over the pounding of her heart.

“Chaton?”

Adrien’s face remained stunned for all of five seconds before a gigantic grin broke out across his face. It lit up his eyes, making them sparkle even though there was no light in the closet besides the tiny sliver coming in from underneath the door.

“I love you,” he breathed right before clamping a hand over his own mouth.

Marinette laughed. Her nerves were jittering, but as Adrien continued to look horrified at what he’d just said out loud, she found herself stepping closer to him. She pulled his hand away from his mouth, looking up at him with a wide smile.

“I...um....” She glanced down at her hand. Adrien’s was still caught inside of it. His ring glinted in the dark. “I think I love you too,” she whispered.

“That’s a big word,” Adrien replied quietly. “Do you...do you really mean it?”

Marinette looked back up at him. The horror had fled from his expression, and now he was watching her with a sort of awestruck wonder lighting his eyes. His eyes flickered down to her lips for just an instant.

Marinette smiled. “I mean it. Just as much as I meant it when I said that we’re both equally important. If not to the eyes of Paris, you are important to _me_ , Chat Noir.”

She pushed herself up on her toes, bringing her nose an inch away from Adrien’s face. His breath hitched.

“May I?” He whispered, glancing down at her lips again.

Marinette felt her heart skip a beat. How many times had she daydreamed about this exact situation in class? Well, maybe not this _exact_ situation, but close enough. How many times had she wished for this? How many times had she been painfully oblivious to the fact that she’d already _had_ this?

She nodded.

Then his lips were on hers, and it didn’t matter how many times she’d already kissed him. It didn’t matter how many times they’d actually remembered, nor how many times they’d forgotten. It didn’t matter that they’d wasted so much time dodging around each other just for another version of themselves. All that mattered to Marinette was making up for it.

After the fourth kiss, they lost count.


End file.
